The Twin Suns
by S-W-E-R-T-O
Summary: My second version of the epic journey of Swerto, a young Imperial ace pilot seeking his place in the galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
****- Tatooine -**

He wiped the sweat from his forehead as the twin suns beat down upon him. His long brown-as-dirt hair went down to his neck; he needed to cut it. Now the young child waited in Bestine for his mother to return. The young boy looked up and saw her. She always had a strange look over that young face. She was short and had long red/blonde hair. If he were older maybe then he would notice the stunning beauty of her, but then again it was his mother. She had a look of pure terror on her face. The boy ran toward her desperately wanting to make her feel better. Blaster fire broke the silence.

"GET DOWN!" the woman yelled with shrill terror in her voice. The young boy jumped down hitting the dirt hard; he let out a grunt. He looked up in time to watch crimson blaster bolts flash through the air toward his mother. He tried to look away from what he knew was going to happen.

"Get Up Swerto!" He heard a small voice say, it couldn't belong to anybody older than six standard years old. Swerto slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the kid. The two blazing suns of the Tatoo System were beating through the atmosphere directly above, it was mid day. The bright light illuminated around the boy making him look like a blotch of darkness in a sea of light. He started to open his mouth again when Swerto interrupted him.

"I heard you kid, now help me up," Swerto said in a tired voice of a young teenager. It had been six years since that day. The nightmares had plagued him every time he closed his eyes, he couldn't forget, at least not all of it. The day had turned into almost nothing but a blur by now. He could remember bits a pieces, the biggest part of it just got interrupted by this little twit. He clenched his teeth and stood up. He looked down at the kid and began to open his mouth when he was interrupted again.

"Someone is here to see you, He's an Imperial," the boy said. Swerto looked at him astonished.

"An Imperial!?" he said loud enough for somebody on the other side of Mos Eisley to hear him. Swerto quickly jumped forward and grabbed the boys shoulders. "What does he want? Did he say what he wanted? Have they taken the boss? Is he in trouble? Are we in trouble? Are we on the street again?" Swerto kept asking questions at a speed fast enough that only a teenage girl could decipher the meaning.

"He didn't say, he just wants you and we're all okay… I don't think you're in trouble." The boy said.

Swerto sighed and let go. He was most likely in trouble. The boy didn't know what he was talking about. He looked across desert cities streets and sighed once again. Once his mother had died he had quickly left Bestine and made his way to Mos Eisley. Once he was here he was homeless and without any money. As a young boy he quickly learned to steal to survive and eventually made his way into a gang and ended up making a new family with their boss at the head. The boss, as he was known, was a poor old man who had lived on Tatooine ever since the Clone Wars. He had helped the children stay alive by purchasing a house and helping organize them into stealing things for him to sell and pay rent and buy food with. Swerto and the rest of the kids respected him. Every once in awhile they would have to deal with the Hutts, but never had an Imperial show up. Swerto had never even seen an Imperial, the only reason he knew of the Empire's existence was because of the news terminals he often got a look at while walking through the city.

"You coming or not?" The young boy interrupted his thoughts again, he was beginning to annoy Swerto. Swerto nodded at the little boy and gestured for him to lead the way. Swerto followed watching the rear making sure no would be thief would try and mug them as they walked the streets, it happened regularly in a spaceport city such as this. The city was a white sandy color because of its location. It was stuck in a basin surrounded by mountains on a desert planet. The buildings themselves looked as if they were dried sand huts on a beach, something Swerto had never seen before.

Abruptly the boy stopped and turned to the nearest building walking up to its brass colored door and knocking on it. It looked like a huge piece of rusted metal that had been set inside a doorway on a building, but Swerto knew that it was actually pretty sturdy, even if it didn't open right all the time. A small slit on it slid sideways and somebody looked through looking to see who was there. When he recognized the kids he quickly closed the slit. Swerto stood waiting for the man to stumble for the door switch. Suddenly the door thrust to the side into the wall leaving an empty doorway for the two to walk through.

He walked through into an average sized room for the slums of Mos Eisley, roughly sixty square meters. The room was void of furniture except for the benches that surrounded the room like an eerie fence. The room was also void of people except the man who opened the door, the boss, and three Imperials. Two were in the white armor of a Stormtrooper, and the third was in the gray military suit of an Imperial officer. He bore the rank insignia on his chest, if Swerto was correct, meant General. The man looked oddly familiar but Swerto couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The officer was tall, almost two meters, and had tan skin that made Swerto wonder if he spent a lot of time on tropical climate worlds. He was broad jawed and tall faced. He had a thick black goatee that surrounded his mouth like a perimeter wall of a fortress. Directly above his goatee his nose stopped and crept up his face like a snake, it would take a non-human with no knowledge of bones to understand that it hadn't been broken many times and bent back into place. His cheekbones were even broader than his jaw and made him look like he had a distorted triangle for his lower head. His eyes were brown and were easily noticeable over his black eyebrows that showed up over it. Swerto could see a little hair coming out from under the man's gray hat of an officer.

The man stood up and Swerto noticed how big he truly was. The man had broad shoulders and huge muscles. He wouldn't have been out of place in a fighting arena. He was defiantly a soldier, or at least used to be one. He walked toward Swerto with arrogant strides that showed he must come from a planet of wealth, but more likely royalty. He stopped directly in front of Swerto and looked him up and down and opened his mouth. A deep booming voice with authority came out that sent a shiver down Swerto's spine.

"How old are you young man?" He said with an accent that suddenly proved his early suspicions correct. Here on a spaceport world he quickly learned to tell the difference in accents. This mans was defiantly Alderaanian. Swerto looked up at the man slowly and stepped back slightly. His jaw began to quiver and then he bit his jaw building up all the courage he had to talk to the man who defiantly had a reason to be here. He had a thousand ideas of what he would want with him, none of them were good.

"Si…si… Sir I am fourteen standard years old," he said loudly and intently. He didn't want to be remembered as a coward when he was taken away, which he was sure was going to happen.

"And your name is Swerto correct?" He said looking down at him with interest. Swerto slowly nodded.

"Swerto Dragonouve, sir," he said a little more brave than before. He looked directly into the eyes of the general and saw the eyes of a soldier who had seen too many things in his lifetime.

He abruptly turned and looked at the boss, "I see, men take him. We're leaving, thank you citizen your service to me will be remembered." The Imperial officer began walking out the door when the stormtroopers walked up and grabbed Swerto by his shoulders. He tried to wrestle free from their grip with no success. The stormtroopers began dragging him across the city. Swerto kicked one in the shin and he let go grabbing for his leg. Swerto pulled his arm free from the other and quickly began running in the other direction forgetting about the officer. The officer quickly darted after him with thunderous footsteps like a heart beat of doom bearing down on him. Swerto was suddenly stopped by the man's iron hard grip that grasped him across the back of the neck and lifted him off the ground. Swerto kicked back and hit the man in the chest. He let go of his neck but grabbed both his arms and turned him around and stared at him in the eyes with deep intent.

Swerto stared into the eyes once more, but to his surprise didn't find a deep amount of anger, he found worry. _What does he have to worry about?_

The man opened his mouth. "Is this any way to treat your father?" the voice wasn't full of authority this time. It was full of anger. Swerto stared at the man and his jaw dropped.

He quickly recovered from the initial shock, "You're not my father! My father… he left my mother right after I was born… that's why I've been stuck here… that's why she's dead!" Swerto said anger quelling up inside him.

"No you're wrong. We were at war, and I wanted your mother to be safe. I gave her money and told her to go hide for the remainder of it, to stay out of the way… to disappear. When the war ended I couldn't look for you… But this is not the time or place to explain myself. You are my son whether you believe me or not. If you don't want to believe me go ahead, you're still going with me back to Imperial Center to be enrolled in the Imperial Academe and turned into a respectful soldier," He said, his voice was a little more calm this time. He let go of Swerto and let him drop to the ground.

He just stared up at him and nodded knowing that he couldn't get out of this, and if he really was his father… no Swerto didn't have family, he was alone. Swerto obediently walked with the officer as they headed down the sandy streets toward a hangar where he was sure an Imperial shuttle would be docked. Behind him he could hear the stormtroopers faintly talking.

"Man, the General is pretty angry," the first said.

"Well if you left your wife with your son and found out she died and then spent the next six years searching for your son I'm sure you would be pretty pissed off too," the second said.

"Yeah I guess you got me there," the first said.

"Both of you shut up and that's an order," the general said.

"Yes Sir," both said quickly shutting up.

_Eight Years Pass…_

**- Yavin System -**

Swerto quickly sat up in the pilots lounge. Loud klaxon alarms were blaring through the halls of the Death Star. That only meant one thing, they were under attack. Before he fell asleep he remembered hearing that they had found the Rebel base and they were on their way to destroy it. A proud officer had told them that they would face no resistance; the Rebels were too weak to offer them any. Swerto knew the moment that the officer opened his mouth they were going to be in trouble. He quickly got out of bed and headed across the room to grab his helmet. The onyx black helmet had two white Imperial insignias on it looking like two lone stars in the endless void of space. Swerto lifted it up and put it over his head. He put his hands to the side of his neck and began fastening it on. The vacuum suit would make sure if he went exta-vehicular he wouldn't have to worry about the emptiness of space for a short time.

He put his hand to his belt making sure his pistol was tied tightly into its holster and ran out into the hallway. Dozens of pilots were scrambling down the black and gray hallways toward the nearest hangar. Swerto picked up his pace and quickly jogged down the hallway. He had been transferred to duty aboard the Death Star when his father was.

His father… he hadn't heard from his father since they pacified Alderaan. What the officers meant by pacified he didn't know but he knew his father wouldn't like it. His father was native to Alderaan and anything to do with it would have easily sent his temper rising.

Swerto quickly out into the high walkways of the TIE Fighter racks. TIEs were black and gray starfighters with two hexagonal wings attached to a ball cockpit. The TIE acronym meant Twin Ion Engine starfighter and stood for the two ion engines on the rear of the fighter. The front had a window that resembled the Imperial insignia. Directly under the cockpit window were two blaster cannons for fighting in space. The overall design of the ship was considered to many to be a death trap because you could only see what was directly in front of you if your sensors went out. Many pilots died because they would lose track of their targets and they would maneuver around them and take the pilots out. Swerto was too good for a maneuver like that to harm him. Swerto relied on the fighters excellent handling and speed to fly circles around other fighters.

As he dropped down into the nearest fighter which had been assigned to him he took a glance to the side of the cockpit at the two X's he had scratched on the side standing for the two rebel pilots he had taken out in his career. He did a quick checkup of the systems and fired up the engines. The loud screaming quickly echoed through the hangar and repeated itself many times as the other TIEs fired up their engines as well. Swerto quickly grabbed for the controls hitting a switch to activate the repulsorlifts to keep his fighter from crashing to the ground below when control officer released his fighter. As soon as he heard the clanking of metal releasing away he watched the fighters in front of him fly out at high speeds. Swerto quickly pushed the throttle forward and flew strait out the hangar following the others forming up on their wing.

As soon as he formed on his squad mate's wing he saw an X-wing show up in his rear sensors. An X-wing was one of the Rebellions main craft. It was a long cylindrical bodied ship with four wings sprouting out in an X when in attack position. When in flight mode they would form up to two wings and make it look more like the older Z-95 Headhunter. On each wing a blaster cannon reached forward. What the X-wing lacked in maneuverability it gained in strength and shielding. One X-wing could easily take on many inexperienced Imperial pilots. Swerto quickly hit the rudder and turned to the left in a quick spiral. The X-wing opened fire and the rest of his squad was decimated in a second as a proton torpedo exploded in the middle of them. Swerto kept to his turn and found himself behind the X-wing. He went for the fire controls and triggered them. Two neon green lasers flew across space and hit the X-wing in the starboard engine. He fired again and the engine ignited. The X-wing suddenly began losing altitude above the moon-sized Death Star and crashed into the surface.

Swerto listened over the communication systems to hear of other casualties. The Imperial fighters were being mopped up bees nest with a flamethrower. The odds weren't good for the rebel fighters either. The small amount of fighters they sent had drastically declined. They were only minutes away from a firing solution then the petty rebellion would be through with.

He quickly pulled up on the steering controls and gained altitude. He checked his sensors again to make sure that he saw a Y-Wing. The Y-wing was the rebellions excuse for a bomber. The Y-shaped fighter had two engines that sprouted out from the cockpit giving it slow speed and horrible maneuverability. The bomber only had two blaster cannons but carried a large amount of proton torpedoes and proton bombs. If the bomber pilot could get a lock on him he could quickly send a flurry of torpedoes his way that he had no chance of dodging. The astromech droid tied in behind the cockpit made it easy for the pilot to lock onto targets out of his sight.

Swerto knew his only chance was to go at him at top speed from behind so he had no chance to get a missile lock on him. He pushed the throttle to maximum and found himself speeding through space at over a thousand kilometers per hour. His engines began to whine from the sudden change of speed but quickly quieted as he steadied his acceleration. In space he wouldn't have to keep his engines running with a constant forward push because of the lack of friction against the atmosphere. Inertia would keep him moving but in a combat situation it was necessary to keep them going for the turns he was sure he would have to make.

As he neared the enemy fighter his targeting computer chimed letting him know that he had a lock. He quickly fingered the firing controls and green lasers once again flew through space at his target. The Y-Wing tried to dodge the fire but instead got caught in the aft engine. The bomber began spinning out of control toward the void of space. Swerto changed course to put the pilot out of his misery. He was most likely stuck against the canopy window of his bomber because of the inertial forces. Swerto was sure the shot shorted out the inertial compensator.

Two green blasts stretched toward the bomber like predators on their prey and hit the canopy window igniting it. Inside there was smoldering fire and then suddenly it escaped out into the void of space and went out. Swerto turned away from the pilot not feeling any regret. _They started the war, not me. I am not responsible if they get killed in an engagement with me. They know the risks when they get in the cockpit just like me._

Swerto made another course correction and saw three X-wings go into the main trench of the super-weapon. Swerto decided to ignore them and go after the more attractive looking prey of the lone X-wing to the starboard. He made a sharp turn and came to the fighter from its side. Swerto pulled the firing controls and green needles spread out to the target hitting the canopy and killing the pilot instantly.

"The rebel base will be in firing range in two minutes," Swerto heard over the main communication channel. He pulled up and looked at the moon. He began flying toward it trying to get a closer look at it before the inevitable. It was one of the only three inhabitable moons that orbited the gas giant Yavin. It looked like a green marble circling one big red one. He flew a little closer and prepared to turn back.

"WHAT!?" he heard across the comm channel. It was the raspy voice of Darth Vader. It sounded like there was blaster fire. Swerto went for the firing controls when he heard an explosion behind him. Swerto looked down at the scanner to see the large circle representing the Death Star suddenly spread out then dissipate. He felt a sudden lurch forward and his engine went to full power pushing him toward the forest moon. Swerto grabbed at the controls and tried to get them under control.

He was going in too fast and if he couldn't slow the ship down he was going to bounce off the atmosphere like a piece of rubber. He went for the rear thruster controls. He quickly shot of the reverse thrusters. The starfighter shuddered from the opposing forces and then the fighter went in a full spin. All four engines abruptly died and he saw that he was only a minute from the forest moon. He quickly grabbed the steering vein and pushed his ship toward the moon.

As the TIE hit the atmosphere the ship began turning a violent orange. Fire swept on all sides and all he could see in front of him was a blinding light. The cockpit suddenly got hot. He closed his eyes and silently wished he had an ejection seat. The fire suddenly stopped and he began to slow as his rear thrusters came back online. The heat dissipated and the starfighter slowed to under seven-hundred kilometers per hour. He looked forward and saw nothing but trees. He desperately looked for a suitable landing site.

A large river ran along the side of a mountain and into a large clearing ahead. He pushed down on the steering controls. He Hit the rear thrusters for one last vein attempt to slow down. Swerto turned off all power and vented out the fuel. Swerto turned and braced for impact as the trees got closer. He hit the top tree and began flipping out of control into the water. Abruptly he stopped and everything went black.

**- Yavin IV -**

Swerto woke upside down in his fighters cockpit. He looked up seeing the forward window was broke open. His helmet was laying on the top of the fighter, which was now below him. He felt a gentle breeze across his face and heard the sound of water rushing. He looked further up and saw that his fighter had landed upside down in the water and had hung him mostly upside down. He hastily went for the buckle on the belts strapping him in. He suddenly dropped out of his seat and landed on his arm that he had put above his head to stop from hurting it any more. He rolled back over and felt a searing pain in his leg. He looked down and saw it was in an awkward position.

He thumbed for the button to open the top hatch but quickly remembered that he had shut down the power before the crash. Swerto then sat up and looked at the cockpit window and lifted his other leg that had not been broke. As his left leg lifted his right felt even more pain. Swerto bit his lip to try and distract his mind from the pain in the leg. He tasted blood as he kicked forward and knocked a piece of transparasteel out of place. Swerto lunged forward and flew out the front window.

With a quick splash he felt cold water rush around him. He was in a shallow river no more than a foot deep where he was. He turned to the side and saw that he was resting on a rock that laid on the bottom of the river. He looked back up at the fighter and slowly pushed himself toward the nearest wing. His head was spinning and he knew that it wasn't going to be long before he was unconscious again. He Saw that the wing had been shattered and a piece of metal about the length of his leg was strutting out. Swerto quickly grabbed for his blaster and pointed it at the bottom of the bar and fired. A crimson blast flew out and hit it knocking it off into the water. Swerto reached down over the rock to try and grab it.

His hand slipped over it and he gripped tightly. Pulling it out of the water he set it down beside him. He grabbed his leg and felt around searching for the point where his leg had broke. He found it half way down his lower leg. With both arms Swerto grabbed both ends of the fracture and quickly snapped to the side putting it as close as it was to the original placement. He grabbed the metal bar and set it by his leg. He thumbed for the latches holding his vacuum suit in place and opened it slightly. Grabbing a knife he had on his belt he began to cut the thick cloth and made three long strands. He tied his right leg to the bar and then found another one like it sticking out of the wing. Sliding back a little more he grabbed it and shot the upper part.

With some effort he successfully put it on the other side of his leg and started standing up. As he stood up he felt another searing amount of pain as his leg gave way and he fell back down face first into the water. As he tried to roll over Swerto saw the error in what he had done, all he had done was to make sure the leg was fastened into place, not take the weight off of it.

He thrashed out at the water and silently wished he had a medic with him. Swerto looked up the ship one last time then looked up at the space above. There was no Death Star, no fleet of Star Destroyers, and nothing to show that anything had happened.

"So that's it then, everyone's dead… the Death Star is gone… and guessing from the fact that I'm still alive I guess it never got that shot off." Swerto said quietly talking to himself. He sat back up and began sliding toward the other wing for support as he tried to stand up and get back to the cockpit. He had another idea on how to fix his leg.

Hours later after putting his rigged cast into place Swerto attempted standing on it while holding a large piece of wood next to it with his hand to take the weight off of it. And after no sharp pain shot through him he knew it had worked.

Swerto began making his way across the river toward the nearby forest. As he walked to the place where his ships gun had taken off a branch he sat down. Next to him sat communications equipment he had pulled out of his fighter and got to work on a power source he had also found in the fighter. With no need for sensors the power supply could last months and Swerto could easily listen in on all Imperial channels. When the Empire eventually came back for retaliation he could ask for a rescue shuttle to get out of here.

A rustle behind him made Swerto turn suddenly. He saw the figure of a man walking in his direction with a blaster rifle in his hand. He wore the suit of a Rebel trooper. Swerto slowly began to raise his hands.

"No sudden movements… I'm watching you," He said with authority. He didn't even have a chance and Swerto silently wished he didn't have to kill such a young person. He pulled his pistol up with great alacrity and stopped leveling it with the rebel. He pulled the trigger and a crimson bolt flew through the distance between them and hit the man in the face. His head snapped back and his knees buckled. He dropped forward landing just outside of four meters from Swerto.

Swerto turned as he heard some static from the radio.

"Al… Imp… sur… rep….in," Swerto turned one of the dials until it cleared up. "repeat… all Imperial survivors report in. Imperial Star Destroyer, Avenger _en route_ to your position. All survivors report in." Swerto quickly grabbed for his helmet and put it on. He talked into the microphone attached inside.

"This is Sergeant Swerto Dragonouve reporting. I've crash landed on the fourth moon of Yavin and my fighter is badly damaged, most likely unsalvageable. I need a medic and rescue. My leg is broken and I've just recently been attacked by a rebel patrol. If you're looking for a good spot to land on this moon I'm in it, over," Swerto said thumbing the button to end his transmission.

"Star Destroyer Avenger reads you sergeant. Activate the homing beacon on your fighter and we'll send in a shuttle to survey the area. Do you know the location of the rebel base, over?"

"It has to be nearby, I suggest you send a fighter escort with that shuttle, if the base is nearby I'm sure they have enough fighters in that base to take it down. You might want to start the full scale invasion, over."

"Negative, we are here strictly for a retaliatory strike, the five-o-first does not take risks without the brunt of the Empire backing it up on such a raid. Most of our regiment was destroyed with the destruction of the Death Star. I suggest you hold position, over."

"Affirmative, over and out." Swerto said shutting down the radio and pulling the helmet off. He reached toward his side and hit the transmitter beacon that would show his fighters location to any Imperial ship within twelve parsecs. He slowly pushed himself up and checked the power pack on his pistol and headed out to the river. On the other side a large open field sat ready for any ship to land. Swerto smiled as he began limping across the water. The Five-o-first, Vader's Fist, was heading to make a retaliatory strike, if he wanted vengeance now was the time. The grin on his face suddenly stopped as he looked up and saw a shuttle slowly set down.

_One and a half years pass…_

**- Tatooine -**

He was seven feet tall, he had long spiked dark brown hair. He wore black pants with a brown undershirt. Over his short he wore a black jacket. He had a pair of shiny black boots on that were buckled to his pants. His face stood out from the rest of his body. He had a wide jaw much like his father, even though it wasn't as wide. He had a dark brown goatee that snaked its way around his mouth. His cheek bones protruded from his skull like mountains and showed up on his face even at this age. He had a pair of dark brown eyes that made his tan skin look pale. His nose went strait down his face and spread out. Even though he was taller than his father Swerto was still considered small than he had been. Swerto, while broad shouldered, had a lot less muscle to beef it up.

Swerto walked across the crowded streets of Mos Eisley toward the nearby cantina. As he neared the bronze door he heard the sound of over fifty different species conversing on the inside. He hit the control to open the door and walked in. The dank mist of smoke danced through the air past Swerto and clawed around him sucking him further into the cantina. As he rounded the corner of the sandy walls he passed by a white cabinet with a cross on it. The cross had a blue light going up and down, a droid scanner. Swerto continued forward and maneuvered through the crowded cantina dodging a small pair of rodent-like species. As he neared the main bar he saw an opening in between two humans and stepped through. He pulled out a credit tab and set it on the counter.

"Wuher, I'll take a utozz, strait up please," Swerto said loudly over the noise of the bar.

"You got it, anything else?" Wuher said, he was an aging human male who was nearly bald. His voice grunted out as he handed Swerto his drink.

"No thanks Wuher. Here is your money," Swerto said as he slid the credit chip across the counter. He stepped back and looked across the cantina. He took a sip of his drink and let the alcohol slide down his throat. He noticed a table on the other side of the room empty. Swerto made his way for it dodging a dancer and a musician trying to get attention. As he sat down on the wooden chair he took another look around. The thick mist of the cantina made it harder to see than outside, but it was still possible. He looked around seeing dozens of different alien species and very few humans. He also saw a few familiar faces, but he didn't pay much attention.

As he turned back toward the entrance he saw a pair of stormtroopers walk into the cantina and begin harassing a Twi'lek dancer nearby. Her head tails, called lekku, twitched uncontrollably, a visible sign of fear. Swerto smiled a little bit taking another long drink of the utozz. One of the stormtroopers walked toward his table and stopped in front of it. His white armor was barely illuminated in the dark cantina.

"You, I don't think I've seen you before," The stormtrooper said walking closer. He pulled his blaster rifle up just a little bit as a threatening gesture.

"Some advice trooper, I suggest you leave your superior officers alone," Swerto said as he pulled his identification out and threw it across the table. The stormtrooper took one look at it and quickly turned around leaving Swerto alone to his drink. Swerto took another look at the entrance and saw another pair of stormtroopers walk in escorting a zabrak. The near-human species had only one noticeable difference when their skin was the same as a humans, they had a crown of horns. Even with the officer's hat on Swerto could see the horns pushing little notches on the side. His long hair went out the back and under his uniform, a visible sign of defiance.

The zabrak officer made his way to Swerto's table and sat down across from him. Swerto sat up and stared at the man. He had a thin jaw but wide cheekbones. His head was tall and seemed to get wider as it went up. Two strands of long hair leaked over his face. His skin was noticeably more tan than Swerto's. Swerto looked closer at the mans face and noticed he had tattoos covering most of his features like a set of snakes. He wasn't an overly big man and Swerto was easily taller at seven feet.

"Sergeant Dragonouve I presume?" The Zabrak said

"What is it to you," Swerto said then noticed the rank insignia of a colonel. He then hastily added, "sir."

"I'm looking for a Sergeant Swerto Dragonouve who is currently suspended from duty after a court martial. Are you him?" The Zabrak said with authority.

"Yes sir, I meant no disrespect," Swerto said trying to look more erect and respectful.

"Very well, no harm done Sergeant. I am Colonel Barok of the One-hundred and Ninety-fourth Tactical Interceptor Squadron, or TIS for short. I have the papers here to requisition your transfer to my squadron, if you wish, of course. Otherwise I can walk out right now and leave you here suspended until somebody decides to pick up a wash out like you." He said tossing a datapad across the table toward Swerto. He caught it and looked down at the text written.

"So what I just sign here and I'm off suspension?" Swerto asked inquisitively.

"That's about the gist of it," Barok said smiling. "Well that and you need to follow me back to the TIS headquarters. Once there I'll make the formalities finished and you'll be with us." Barok said looking down at the datapad. Swerto pulled a stylist from the side and signed his name on the screen and tossed it back.

"I'm listening," Swerto said. The nearby stormtrooper lifted his rifle when he noticed Swerto's pistol holstered. Swerto then added, "I'm listening intently."

"Very well, you are going to get up and leave this cantina with me. Once we reach that point we'll make our way to the starport and then fly to Bestine city. Once there we'll make our way one kilometer outside the city to HQ. Once there I'll finish the paperwork and you'll be in TIS. Tomorrow after you get your rest in the crew quarters we'll have a short welcome to TIS party and then we'll be off on our first mission together. After that point I don't have any idea, sorry." Barok said standing up.

Swerto followed in his suit and stood up as well. Saluting Swerto turned and watched Barok walk out the entrance. He looked back down at his drink and got one last chug. He then hurried out after the colonel into the street.

When they finally arrived at Bestine twenty minutes later Swerto was eager to get the formalities over with. When they made their way outside the starport Swerto saw a pair of speederbikes sitting side by side. Barok stopped in front of Swerto and gestured toward the nearest one.

"We'll be taking these to the base, its just over a kilometer outside the city and won't take us long to reach. Follow me trooper," Barok said jumping onto the nearest one and activating it. Swerto walked after him and sat onto the next one.

"Whatever you say, sir," Swerto said hitting the controls to activate it. Barok shot off in front of him and Swerto followed shortly after pushing the steering veins forward throttling to maximum speed. As he accelerated Swerto was pushed further in his seat and quickly they broke out the edge of the city. Bestine, just like Mos Eisley was located in a basin surrounded by mountains on three sides. Barok was heading up and over the nearest one. As they sped through the desert sand kicked up from Barok's swoop and flew back toward Swerto. He made a quick course correction and accelerated forward to be next to Barok.

Ahead of him he could see the rectangular profile of a large building sitting on top of a dune. Along the base of the dune stood a group of houses. They quickly shot down the side of the mountain they were on and were on a quick strait toward the base. Swerto hit the acceleration all the way forward and shot ahead of Barok. Barok did the same and soon was directly on Swerto's tail drafting him. Barok made a quick shot to the side and shot past Swerto. Barok shot up the dune and disappeared behind the HQ. Swerto stopped directly in front of it and shut down the speederbike. He lifted his leg up and stepped to the side getting off the bike.

Barok made his way back around the HQ and stopped in front of it. The HQ was a large duracrete building that looked out of place in the Tatooine desert. Its gray stone walls could be seen from kilometers away. Leading up toward the main entrance were a pair of winding stone stairways. Swerto began walking forward toward the building as Barok turned and headed up the stairs. When Swerto was at the top of the stairs Barok stopped and hit the nearby forcefield control shutting down the magnetic field stopping him from getting in the building.

Swerto took a step in the building and the atmosphere suddenly changed from the deserts arid heat to the temperature to a tropical world. He looked ahead of him and saw the painting of a TIE fighter entering a planets atmosphere. Swerto began thinking back to the disaster at Yavin but quickly shook the thought away. He turned and headed around the corner of the wide separator that hid the rest of the building from the door. As Swerto rounded the corner he noticed it served another purpose, to house the elevator that probably went to a bunker below them.

Barok continued on through the main lobby and stopped. He turned around and motioned for a nearby chair. "Take a seat Swerto, I will be back momentarily with the final papers," he said as he turned and walked around another corner. Swerto took a look around the large lobby. It had many chairs and couches arranged around, probably for the lounging of the squadrons other members. In between the chairs sat glass tables with holograms on top of them. One Swerto recognized as the Death Star, which surprised him. In the center of the room sat a console with hologram projector in the middle. He relaxed in his seat and looked back to where Barok had left.

Barok suddenly strode back through the door and stopped in front of Swerto with another datapad. He handed it to him and watched intently as Swerto signed again.

"Welcome to TIS Dragonouve, your quarters are downstairs, get some rest. We organize at eleven-hundred hours tomorrow morning," Barok said with authority that let Swerto know that it wasn't a request. Swerto stood up and saluted the colonel.

"Yes sir, I'll see you then," Swerto said turning toward the elevator. As he stepped in the door shut. The cylinder he found himself in had only one way in and out and only one thing in It other than himself. On the other side sat a control panel with up and down buttons on it. Swerto hit the down button and the elevator shot down to the underground floor and stopped. Swerto walked out and looked at the rectangular room.

There were five doorways, two on either side and one on the far end. The one on the far end had equipment in it which let Swerto know it wasn't he pilot quarters. He continued forward and looked side to side. In each doorway he storage devices, once again not the room. The next two were more promising. On his left Swerto saw a room with furniture on the far side. On his right he saw a room full of bunks. He walked in and noticed the room was empty and left mostly untouched. He sat down at the nearest bed and pulled out his personal datapad. He set turned it on and set an alarm for ten-hundred hours in the morning. Swerto leaned over and laid down. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**  
**- ****Tatooine –**

Swerto woke up early in the morning to the sound of his datapad's alarm. The alarm was almost as obnoxious as the screaming of some exotic reptile. As he slowly stood up he vainly reached to shut off the datapad, somebody had moved it across the room to another bunk. He thought a moment on who would have done that, but decided it might just have been him last night and he forgot about doing it. Swerto stood up and slowly walked over grabbing the datapad and turning the alarm off. Suddenly the room was as silent as the dead cold of space and he had to fight the temptation to sit back down and fall asleep. Swerto turned back to his bunk and saw a clean pair of clothes next to it.

As the elevator opened Swerto saw the room was vaguely empty for his opinion on an Imperial squadron. He looked around and counted three people other than himself. A tall man in black Bounty Hunter armor that resembled lizard skin raked over metal and placed on different plates across the body. There was Barok, whom Swerto already knew, and another zabrak, this one was a female and much younger looking. As he looked at her he noted that she shared many similarities with Barok in physical appearance including her hair and skin color. As he looked closer he noticed her eyes were blue instead of the brown color of Barok's.

As Swerto stepped out the tall man turned to look at him. He raised a rifle slowly but suddenly stopped as Barok raised a hand. The female zabrak shook her head slightly and suppressed a laugh. Swerto continued to walk forward and stopped meters from Barok and stood at attention. "Sergeant Swerto Dragonouve reporting for duty, sir," he said in a loud enough voice to be heard. Barok nodded at him then turned around. Barok walked to the rear of the room where there was a doorway and walked through. The human and female zabrak both walked closer to him and looked him over.

The human was first to raise his hand to Swerto, "Edrystirfod, pleasure to meet you." He said in a calm Correllian accent. Swerto grabbed his hand tightly and shook. Swerto noted that the mans shake was firm, defiantly strong. "This is Sariena, she's Barok's only daughter. She isn't the most shy person but I decided to ruin her fun for her at introducing herself. Now listen to me on this, Barok hates snide cracks and he'll probably shoot you for one joke. I suggest you stay silent your entire stay here with the squadron."

Swerto looked at him surprised then saw Sariena laugh a little bit and lift a hand. "Don't listen to Edry, he's just trying to mess with you. My father isn't **THAT** bad. But I will suggest you keep from the snide remarks until you're an official member of this squadron." Sariena said in a pleasant voice. She had tattoos much like her fathers but they were painted a brighter color that seemed to match her eyes much better.

"Well speaking of the squadron, where is everybody else? I thought I just joined a tactical interceptor squadron, aren't those supposed to have a lot of members? Or have I been mistaken?" Swerto inquired raising an eyebrow.

"This is the squadron. Most of us died recently in a raid by Rebels. They got most of us dry docked and those of us that got off station to try and get to them got caught in a bad spot by a corvette. My father and Edry here were the only two to make it out of there. On his return the squadron was temporarily put off duty while he searched for new members. I was the first he found in this reforming action and you are the second. I don't think we'll be getting much of anyone, the Empire doesn't have enough elite pilot resources to transfer over here, and my father will accept nothing else." Sariena said in kind of a hurt voice. Swerto looked at her for a moment then nodded.

"Well I take it that you are wondering what we're doing today, I suggest we both go out back to meet the boss and we can talk to him about it. The mission briefing is in ten minutes or so, Sariena took the liberty of allowing you to sleep in," Edry said in a humored tone. He turned around and walked to the back room where Barok had disappeared to. Sariena quickly turned and followed him. Swerto was left alone in the lobby for a moment before he decided to follow them.

The back room was a large room in width but was average in length. As he looked around he saw a large communion table with expensive chairs placed all around it. On the table there were holographic display panels and small lights, an effective workspace. The room was moderately lighted and the gray color of the walls and floor kept the room in a boring state. His fellow squadron mates were already seated near the end where Barok was standing and waiting. Swerto walked over and chose a seat next to Edry.

"How nice of you to join us sergeant, I trust you met lieutenant Edrystirfod and corporal Sariena Barok?" Barok said looking at Swerto. When Swerto nodded Barok turned and walked a little further away. "Our mission is the escort of a frigate. The frigate will be carrying classified supplies and is traveling through pirate territory, we believe that Rebels could also be operating in the territory. I don't think I need to tell you that that would be a bad thing," Barok said trailing off. When nobody spoke he continued.

"The frigate arrived and was escorted here to Tatooine a few hours ago. After unloading some cargo and loading new cargo on it is ready to be escorted out of the system. The only problem we face is that it is slow, very slow. With the cargo its carrying I don't think we'll be jumping in any overly fast craft for today's mission. And by the way, this is of the utmost importance." Barok said turning back around.

Sariena leaned across the table and whispered to Swerto, "Don't worry he always says that, its nothing to get worked up by."

"This mission is of the utmost importance," Edrystirfod said in a mocking voice of Barok.

"That will be enough, Lieutenant. I need not remind you of the seriousness of our current state. Any questions?" Barok said turning away from Edrystirfod.

"Yes father, what will we be using for this mission, TIE fighters?" Sariena said.

"We will be using my Decimator, well us three will. Sergeant," Barok said turning toward Swerto.

"Yes sir?" Swerto asked looking back up.

"You will be assigned a new TIE fighter, it is in pristine condition and has just arrived from SFS shipyards. I suggest that once this mission is done you do some checkups on it, keeping our pilots alive is an important thing for our squadron. This mission is also going to be your unofficial test for the joining of TIS. If you need help after the mission with upgrading your craft speak with Edry, he's pretty skilled with mechanics. If that's all you are all dismissed. Edry, Sariena follow me to the starport. Swerto, once you arrive in orbit I will send you the rendezvous coordinates. Your fighter is docked in the starport, the access codes were uploaded to your datapad last night by my daughter. We'll see you there, and good luck." Barok said turning and leaving the room.

Edry and Sariena stood up and followed. As Edry walked out he turned to Swerto and stopped. "Do you have a question for me, Swerto?" Edry said inclining his head slightly.

"Yes I do, are you a bounty hunter, sir?" Swerto asked looking at the mans armor. He still couldn't see his face and doubted he would anytime soon. Edry let out a stifled laugh.

"You could say that, I prefer the term agent of the Empire but that will work as well. Good luck kid, you'll need it." Edry said as he turned and left. Swerto stood up and began to follow when he remembered he left his datapad downstairs. As he stepped into the elevator he heard a speeder leaving.

Swerto ended up having to walk all the way back to Bestine. By the time he arrived he was mildly annoyed and covered in sand. He checked his side to make sure he was carrying his DE-10 blaster pistol. The pistol had the look of an ancient revolver kinetic weapon. As he walked through the city he noticed how abandoned it looked other than the stormtroopers patrolling the city, he decided it had to do with the fact that this was the Empires idea of the capital city.

As he rounded a corner and headed toward the starport he saw a man in the distance. The man had long dark hair and was wearing robes. Swerto watched him pull out a long vibro blade and reached for his pistol. The man turned and ran after a nearby stormtrooper who was looking in Swerto's direction.

Swerto quickly pulled his DE-10 out from its holster and held it out with one arm and used his other to balance it. He lined up the sights with the madman and fired. One shot hit him directly in the throat and snapped his head back. He flew back several feet and stopped moving. The stormtrooper quickly raised his rifle and pointed it at Swerto. He then turned around quickly to make sure Swerto was shooting at him then noticed the man. The stormtrooper lowered his gun and ran toward the man poking him with his rifle. Swerto ignored the event and continued on toward the starport. As he walked through the entrance the atmosphere once again became more moist than outside.

He continued through the halls of the port until he found the hangar his craft was docked at. He walked toward it and looked it over quickly. Next to it he saw a locker that had a note pasted on it. As Swerto neared the locker he found it was written by Sariena.

_Swerto, _

_In this locker is your new pilots uniform, it was specially tailored to you last night and has had the TIS logo painted over some of the Imperial insignias, you'll also find this logo on the side of your ship. Good luck Swerto and see you topside._

Swerto read the note one more time and opened the locker looking at the TIE pilot suit. The black armor looked almost identical to the standard TIE vacuum flight suit, the only noticeable difference was the insignias on the helmet were TIS logos instead of the Empire's logo. Swerto pulled it out and held it up to him, he noticed it had been fitted perfectly to his height. Swerto turned and began to slip the skin-tight flightsuit on. After he had the suit on he took a final look at the bulky helmet. He slowly lifted it down over his head and it became dark.

He put his hands to the sides of the helmet and slowly twisted the fastening bolts to make sure his flightsuit was completely airtight. He then double checked the life support controls hanging from the helmet to make sure he had air venting through. Swerto turned back toward the fighter and looked it over. He looked around the wings making sure nobody had tampered with the fighter, it would be a pretty bad thing to make his way into space just to find out he had no inertial compensator. Without the compensator he would feel the complete forces of gravity in his turns and loops, most of which could cause him to black out in mid turn. As he found nothing wrong with it he began climbing the side of it.

When Swerto was fastened safely inside the fighters cockpit he fired up the engines and began the preflight checklist. His weapons and engines both showed in the green, that was good. Swerto waited for the engines to finish heating up then put his hands on the controls. As he began putting power into the repulsorlifts to slowly push him off the ground and eventually into the air above he signaled the Imperial flight controller to get flight clearance. As soon as his fighter was cleared he pushed the throttle to maximum and flew toward the vastness of space.

**- Tatoo System -**

As soon as Swerto was in orbit he turned his radio to the frequency he had been given for the squadron private channel. Swerto spoke into the microphone in his helmet clearly making sure it was working. After a quick test he turned the microphone filter off and spoke into the squadron channel. "Sergeant Swerto reporting, orders sir?"

Swerto heard a click as the reply was sent from Barok. "Colonel Barok, TIS here. My ships homing beacon is activated. Find the beacon and lock onto it and follow us to the rendezvous point." Another click followed as Barok stopped speaking.

Swerto looked down at his controls and pulled up the targeting computer. Swerto searched the area for Barok's ship. Swerto found it. It was a V-9 Decimator. The ship was often given to people on their way up the naval command structure on the way to controlling their very own capital ship or cruiser. Swerto marveled at the menacing look of the ship. It had a large rectangular body with two sword like wings along the side. The rear had one large engine exhaust much like those found on Corellian models. On both the top and bottom of the ship there were military grade quad cannons. As Swerto checked the ships readout he noticed they had been modified from the military standard to an even more powerful set of weapons. The ship had two floors, the main floor housed the bride and the central structure to reach the turrets. The second floor housed the escape pods and three rooms for storage. The very front of the decimator had the familiar Imperial style port window that was also found on the front of his TIE Fighter.

The computer made a chime as it received a lock on the homing beacon that the Decimator was sending. Swerto put the ship on autopilot to follow until they reached the rendezvous. The TIE Fighter accelerated to maximum speed directly toward the Decimator. It quickly fell in line directly next to the Decimator and reduced the acceleration enough to stay on its port side.

Five standard minutes after falling in line Swerto's nav computer raised alarm as multiple incoming vessels were detected. Ahead of him three ships exited hyperspace nearly a kilometer away. All three vessels were Z-95 Headhunters. Anyone who had seen an X-Wing knew that the Headhunter was the predecessor. Z-95's carried no R2 units and had only two wings and laser cannons. The headhunter looked very similar to a X-wing with its s-foils closed and a rounded hull behind the cockpit. All three fighters were painted white with red stripes along the corners of the hull. On either side of the long nose in front a red phoenix with upswept wings was branded. It was the well known insignia of the Rebel Alliance.

Swerto quickly turned the auto pilot of and pushed the throttle to full acceleration. The TIE Fighter sped forward past the Decimator as the ships turrets began to pivot into position. Swerto noticed blasts of quad laser fire fly past him toward the fighters. Because the Decimator was moving just like the Z-95s hitting anything was going to be difficult for any gunner. Barok would have to fly straight and take the chance of getting hit.

Each headhunter carried enough proton torpedoes to both take down the shields of the decimator and knock the craft clear out of space. On the Decimator they were running on a skeleton crew of three, either they had to keep one turret empty or keep the co pilots chair empty. Either way they would lose weapons capability. Barok would have a hard time getting up and moving to the co-pilots console to fire proton torpedoes or chaff packs and keep flying at the same time. Swerto knew he had to act.

Swerto rotated the controls sending his fighter into a spin. With the TIE fighter yaw was much easier than turning. After he had rotated enough he pulled up and quickly formed up behind the headhunters. The headhunters opened fire on the Decimator as they flew past it. Swerto began to lock onto the lead headhunter. Before he could get the ship steady enough to fire strait the two wingmen quickly decelerated and fell in line behind Swerto. Now he was in trouble. Swerto pulled up on the controls to quickly make a vertical loop and land behind the fighters. Not even waiting to get a lock he pressed the triggers letting laser cannons fire free. Green laser blasts flew from the front of the fighter and flew in the direction of the headhunters.

The headhunters quickly split up allowing Swerto to focus on just one at a time. He locked onto the one to his port and matched speed with the pilot. Swerto lined up his targeting brackets on the fighter and pulled the triggers. Thee short bursts of laser fire flew from the TIE Fighter directly into to rear of the headhunter. The engines lit up and exploded. The fighter disappeared in a fireball as all the flammable elements in the fighter were burned up before escaping into space.

As his fighter pulled up in a loop to return to the battle Swerto searched for the other two fighters. One had been hit in its wing by a lucky shot from Barok's Decimator. The other headhunter was rounding for another attack run on the decimator who continued a strait path to what Swerto could only guess was the rendezvous point. Swerto matched the heading of the wounded fighter and began to close the distance between them. More laserfire came from the decimator toward the fighter Swerto was chasing. A shot hit directly on the port wing and completely obliterated it.

The fighter began to spin out of control from the inertia that came from the blast. Swerto locked onto the fighter and fired directly at its engines. The ship was quickly engulfed in a fireball. Swerto banked to port and looked for the remaining fighter. The proximity alarm blared once again as three more fighters exited hyperspace. Swerto noticed the decimator launch a salvo of proton torpedoes at the fighters. _Barok must have put the decimator on autopilot_. The torpedoes connected with their targets and created a blinding explosion. Debris from all three fighters flew past Swerto and the decimator. The remaining headhunter began firing again at the decimator once again.

Swerto banked to the side again and fell in behind the much slower headhunter. Swerto matched speed with the fighter as it tried to shake him. Swerto lined up his targeting brackets and fired on the fighters steering thruster, which was located in between all four ion engines. The pilot ejected before the blast hit the ship creating another large fireball. The ejection seat separated from the pilot and his EV suit. Swerto decided to leave the pilot sitting there in space. He hadn't done anything to offend Swerto so he had no reason to kill him now that he was no longer an immediate threat. If the pilot was stupid enough to get back into a fighter when Swerto was on the other side of the battle then he wouldn't be so lucky next time.

The comm system clicked as Edrystirfod spoke. "Hey Swerto, looks like you get to paint three headhunters on your fighter today, must be exciting huh?" The comm system clicked again as Edry stopped talking.

"I guess but we're not done yet are we. If I'm lucky maybe I'll get to paint a blockade runner on my hull before the mission is done." Swerto joked.

The comm clicked again as Sariena spoke. "You better hope not. One shot from a turbolaser and your fighter would be done for, not that its different from the situation your in already. "  
"They'd have to hit me first, but I was just joking. I know this fighter isn't quite fast enough to continuously dodge fire from one of those."

"Your fighter isn't fast enough to dodge me spitting at you," Edry joked.

"Well military grade is much slower than what I'll have this thing going by the time I'm done tweaking it." Swerto spoke over the chime.

"Quite all of you- wait we have incoming. Three bogeys thirty degrees off port about a kilos off port. Swerto go check it out, and maintain comm silence all of you except for mission specific chatter until the mission is complete." Barok spoke sternly.

"You got it sir," Swerto said as he banked the fighter to port. As he looked far ahead he tried to make out what fighters were incoming. Swerto's eyes widened as he saw that instead of three more headhunters he had two X-Wings and a small shuttle on its way. "Looks like we have a recovery crew, should I engage sir?" Swerto asked.

"Take out the escort first, if the shuttle engages take it out as well, if not let it run." Barok said.

Swerto pushed the throttle to full acceleration once again as the fighter sped forward. His comm clicked and an unfamiliar voice came over an open channel.

"Lone TIE Fighter, we do not wish to engage you, we are simply trying to recover our downed pilot. Please stand down and we will not cause you any harm, if you refuse we will regrettably have to destroy you." The pilot spoke.

"Negative Rebel Scum, you can either run now or become scum on my boots, your choice." Swerto closed the channel and put his hands on the firing controls. The fighters both banked off to the side as the shuttle began to dive below its current heading to undershoot Swerto. He aimed directly at the bridge of the shuttle and began firing. One pass didn't harm the shuttle but caught the attention of the escort to follow him. Swerto banked again as one of the X-Wings began to gain on him.

As he rounded toward one of the two X-Wings the other pilot got in close position behind him, no doubt getting a lock. Swerto dropped the acceleration to nothing and hit the reverse thrusters. He shot behind the X-Wing and pushed the throttle up higher again. Swerto lined the X-Wing in his brackets and opened fire. The burst of green lasers tore off both the port wings and hit the upper port engine. Swerto only watched the fighter spin out of control slightly before looking for his wingman.

The other X-Wing had almost banked around to be behind Swerto again. He didn't think that his previous trick would work so he joined the banking. Halfway through the turn Swerto abruptly rolled and began banking in the other direction. The other pilot fell for the trick and banked in the other direction just a little longer, giving Swerto the advantage.

The TIE Fighter was not only faster but had a much higher turn speed. The other fighter had gotten out of the loop just enough to get Swerto the time to bank around and be behind him. Laser blasts from Barok's Decimator flew in between him and the fighter. Swerto lined up the X-Wing in his brackets. Pulling the triggers laser blasts hit the bottom two engines and rocketed the ship upward into a fireball. The front end of the X-Wing was nothing but singed, the pilot would survive.

Swerto continued to bank around until the Decimator was in his sight. He continued forward and fell in line beside the gunship. Swerto looked forward and the endless stars and noticed his proximity alarm going off. Swerto got ready to push the thrusters up again when he noticed it was a large freighter. The freighter exited hyperspace two hundred meters ahead, giving the Decimator plenty of time to slow down.

The Decimator began its docking procedures with the freighter and slowly drifted toward the freighter. Swerto continued to round the ships for a while longer while he waited for orders.

"Hey Swerto," That was Sariena, "Barok told me to give you the orders to return home in Bestine and talk to the Colonel outside the starport. Good job today Swerto, we would have had a tougher time without you."

"Ok Sariena, see you back at base, safe travels on your way back," Swerto said as he turned his ship around and aimed it toward Tatooine.

**- Tatooine -**

The TIE Fighter entered the atmosphere of Tatooine with little difficulty. Swerto looked down to see the spaceport of Bestine gradually growing larger as his ship moved toward it at three quarters the maximum atmosphere speed. When he got close enough to spit to the spaceport he reduced speed to minimum and slowly came to a halt. Activating the landing thrusters he hovered in the air and rotated the fighter slowly into the large area cleared for his fighter.

When he climbed out of the fighter he loosened the safety clamps on his helmet and pulled it off. Setting it aside he slowly took off the vacuum suit and began putting on his clothes. Once Swerto was fully dressed he walked out of the starport and saw the colonel he was told to see standing in front of the main entrance yelling at a group of people. The colonel walked toward Swerto and raised his hand.

"Halt, this is an Imperial spaceport for Imperial use only. What is your business here citizen?" The colonel said in a harsh voice.

"I am Sergeant Swerto, I am reporting under the order of Colonel Barok. He told me to speak with you after the success of a mission we were assigned." Swerto said standing at attention and saluting the colonel.

"Where is your uniform? Well we can't have you walking around on duty without a uniform," The colonel turned around and beckoned toward another Imperial officer who bore the rank insignia of Major. "Major, get this soldier a uniform ASAP," turning back to Swerto he said, "Now Barok told me to give you this, a promotion, from Sergeant to Lieutenant. That's a big jump… is he sure he gave me the right rank insignia? Oh well too much paperwork to change it now. Well congratulations Se… err… Lieutenant Swerto." The colonel said saluting Swerto.

"Thank you sir," Swerto said returning the salute.

"Now report to the Major, he'll give you that new uniform, we can't have you looking like a rebel, you'll only get arrested." The Colonel said then turned around.

"Hey you Lieutenant over here, your uniform is right here, it should fit. If it doesn't return here and we'll get you measured to get a perfect fit uniform, but don't do that until you are a higher rank. Put your rank insignia there on the uniform," The Major said pointing at the upper left breast area of the uniform.

"I know how this works, I've been an officer before. I'm just working my way back up the chain," Swerto said saluting informally and taking the uniform. He turned and began walking toward a garage nearby where he had left a speederbike for the trip back to the TIS headquarters.


End file.
